


slay my own dragons

by girlygirl14534



Series: The Adventures of Amy [19]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:55:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27705194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlygirl14534/pseuds/girlygirl14534
Summary: Your boyfriends find out about your secret training lessons with Nat.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Reader, Natasha Romanov (Marvel) & Reader, Sam Wilson (Marvel) & Reader
Series: The Adventures of Amy [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1903927
Comments: 2
Kudos: 39





	slay my own dragons

**Author's Note:**

> title from ‘cinderella’ by the cheetah girls

Nat was just returning from a mission and her kitchen was out of—well, everything. That meant you had to go to the communal kitchen to make your post-training smoothie. You usually trained at the gym by your apartment, but occasionally Nat had you come over to the Tower. You felt a little weird about being here and not seeing your boyfriends, but you were still waiting for the perfect time to wow them with your skills. So whenever you trained here you had a quick smoothie at Nat’s and then headed out. Nat was giving you notes as you walked: how your right hook had been improving but you still had work to do on your stance, and how your time at the gym had really been paying off as all of your hits and kicks had a lot more power now. The gym training had been super intense. Some days you felt like you could barely walk (and not in a good way). Sometimes you wished your boyfriends were the only people working you out. But then you remembered how much you enjoyed training, and how strong and empowered you felt. 

Training had become less and less about the fear of what terrible things could happen to you at the hands of some crazy villain and more about learning how strong your body could be. Going from struggling through an assisted pull-up to doing several pull-ups on your own was empowering. And you were able to walk through your daily life with more confidence now. You didn’t have to recoil in fear at every man that leered at you on the subway or catcalled you on the street because you knew you could take them. You felt a little dangerous. And that was really fucking cool. You had never before in your life felt completely safe walking around alone. And that was starting to change. It was freeing. Like a whole new world was opening up. You weren’t going to start picking fights in back alleys or anything, but you definitely felt like a badass. Which is why you worked hard and diligently took your notes. 

You were almost at the kitchen when Nat stopped walking and put a hand out to stop you. You stilled. You heard voices coming from the kitchen. Before you could ask Nat what was going on, Bucky’s head popped around the corner. His face broke out into a grin as you walked towards each other, magnets coming together. He picked you up and spun you around before kissing you. “I knew I heard your voice.”

He took you by the hand and led you into the kitchen. Sam was stirring something at the stove and Steve was standing next to him, watching. 

“Guess who I found?” Bucky said, raising the hand he was holding. 

“Amy!” Steve came immediately to give you a hug and a kiss. You hoped you would never stop being this excited to see each other. 

“Let me guess,” Sam called, “you got lost on the way to their apartments?” 

You rolled your eyes at him. You were notoriously bad at directions, which Steve had learned the first time he met you. Sam and Bucky got to see your geographically-challenged side when you couldn’t find the place that you, Sam, Bucky, Steve and Nat were supposed to be grabbing lunch. Bucky had to come and find you and guide you to the restaurant, teasing you the whole way. 

“Actually, they were talking about...Amy’s punching form?” 

You exchanged a glance with Nat. _Busted_. 

“Yeah, my right hook still needs some work,” you said. 

He looked between you and Nat, trying to figure out what was going on.

You took pity on him. “We’ve been training.”

“Training for what?” 

“Uh…” You looked to Nat. 

“Training for the day her safety protocols fail.” 

Steve and Bucky’s demeanors turned to ice as they looked at their friend.

“They’re not going to fail,” Steve said in a tight, almost menacing voice. 

“We all know that even the best-laid plans—”

Bucky interrupted, “This isn’t a plan. Or a mission. Or an objective. This is...this is our _life_.” 

“I know that,” Nat said slowly. 

“So why would you scare her into feeling like she’s in danger?” 

“I suggested it,” you said. “I asked her to train me.” 

“Why?”

“Because she was real with me about the dangers. At the first movie night y’all took me to. She did scare me a little bit, but that motivated me to take action. Because she’s right. I know you’re doing your best, but there may come a day when—”

“No, there won’t.”

“This is your problem,” Nat said. “You’re too close to this.” 

“OF COURSE WE'RE TOO CLOSE TO THIS!” Steve roared. 

“Alright, let’s calm down a little,” you said. “I started training because I was afraid of what could happen, but now I keep doing it because it makes me feel strong. As a woman in this world, and a small one at that, I have never felt so safe in my everyday life as I do now. Before I met you two, I had to worry about villains all the time—they were just more mundane than the ones you’re used to fighting. So think of this less as doomsday prep and more as everyday badass prep. Okay?”

Steve agreed but Bucky just looked at you. You were going to ask him what was wrong when he lunged. You ducked out of the way on instinct. He looked impressed before continuing to evaluate your skills. He punched, you dodged. He was moving quickly, leaving you no time to think. You sparred with him, using everything you had learned over the past few months to block and avoid his hits. He eventually caught one of your wrists—after a couple of hits back and forth you often forgot to keep your arms close to your body, hence the continued work needed on your form—and tugged you forward so your chests met. 

You looked at his face anxiously. You hoped he wasn’t too disappointed. You still had _a lot_ to learn. He was going easy on you, but still you had lasted 15 seconds against the Winter Soldier— _that’s gotta count for something, right?_ Bucky’s face broke out into a grin. 

“That was amazing,” he said. 

“Really?” you beamed. 

“Really.” He gave you a kiss. 

“I’m impressed,” Steve said. “I’m still mad at you for keeping this from us, Nat, but—”

“Wait a minute. She’s the one dating you. Be pissed at her!”

“Gee, thanks, Nat,” you said. 

“Oh, we could never be mad at this one,” Bucky said, looking at you. 

Nat rolled her eyes. 

“Besides,” Bucky continued, “if you hadn’t scared her, she wouldn’t have asked you for training in the first place.” 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” you said. “I told her not to tell you either. It sounds silly now, but I wanted to surprise you one day.” 

“I think we’re plenty surprised,” Steve said. 

“But you’re not mad?” 

Steve came over to you. “Like Bucky said, we could never be mad at you.” 

“What about Nat?” 

He sighed. He came in closer to you, put one hand at the side of your face and touched his forehead to yours. “I just don’t want you to worry about anything, okay?” he whispered in a pained voice. “ _Anything_. We’re gonna keep you safe, I promise. But if you want to keep training to feel strong, then I think that’s great.” He gave you a kiss and pulled back. 

“Wait a minute,” Bucky said. “Does this mean you’re not actually taking that Extreme Zumba class you told us about?” 

You laughed. You had told them that lie to explain away your sore muscles. You nodded guiltily. “Sorry. I’m still working on convincing Nat that Zumba should count as my cardio.” 

“Dancing is a real workout!” Steve said, no doubt thinking of the countless mornings you three had spent doing the fitness dance videos you loved. 

“I’m sure it is, ABDC,” Sam grinned. 

“Stop calling me that!” Steve laughed. “It doesn’t even make sense! Am I a one-man dance crew? Besides, ‘Best’ is a compliment! And shouldn’t you be making fun of Bucky and Amy? They’re part of the crew, too!” 

“Yeah, but it’s more fun to tease just you,” Nat said. 

Steve rolled his eyes, but it was all in good fun. You were glad Steve and Bucky had calmed down. Nat and Sam really weren’t kidding when they talked about how mad the boys got when it came to you. It seemed like they truly couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to you. Nat was right, in a way: this was a blind spot for them. They were so unwilling to face that possibility, and therefore unable to prepare for it. Your lessons weren’t just physical: they were also mental and emotional. Strategic. And you saw how you had become a weakness for them. You just hoped that, in some ways, you strengthened them as well. 

“So, Amy. You can shoot guns better than Steve, kick Bucky’s ass in a fight—is there anything you _can’t_ do?” Sam said. 

“Now, I wouldn’t go that far—”

“Funny you should say that, Sam,” Nat interrupted. “Because she’s also about to make the best smoothie in the galaxy.” 

“You make smoothies?!” 

“Occasionally,” you admitted cautiously. 

“Well, let’s have a taste test!” 

“Oh, I don’t think that’s necessary.” 

“Why? Scared?” 

“I just didn’t want to embarrass you—first that carnival game and now this?” 

“Wanda’s not here, so we can have a darts rematch if you like.” 

“I think I’ll stick to winning the _real_ competitions, thank you.” You went to the fridge to start getting ingredients.

“Orange juice: bold choice,” he said as he prepared his own concoction. 

“Says the guy with the maple syrup. I think you need to worry a little less about my blender, and a little bit more about the mess that you’ve got going on over there.” 

“What mess? Unlike you, I keep a clean workstation.” 

“Yeah, I’m sure that’ll win you extra points from the judges.” 

“This isn’t even going to be a fair competition! You’re sleeping with ⅔ of the judging panel!” 

“Lucky me.” You sent your boyfriends a wink.

You and Sam went back and forth non-stop as you made your smoothies, not even stopping for the roar of the blender. In the end, everyone had two different, yet delicious smoothies to enjoy. You truly felt like a weight had been lifted when it came to telling Steve and Bucky about training. You no longer had to bite your tongue when you wanted to share with them that you beat your push up record or show them how high your kicks had gotten. This relationship had been a process of giving over little pieces of yourself that you had hidden away, and so far every test had proven them worthy of your heart. 

**Author's Note:**

> posting a ton today in hopes of catching up! Finals have taken a lot of my time and energy but I’m hoping to post my Thanksgiving fic in time. Wish me luck!


End file.
